The Making of a Bilingual Dictionary of Phraseological Units English

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The making of a bilingual dictionary of phraseological units English-Spanish/ Spanish-English with corpora examples
Silvia Molina Plaza*
Abstract: The aim of this lexicographical project is to compile by semasiological order collocations, idioms and phraseological
units in both languages with their equivalents. If there is not an equivalent phraseological unit, we look for a functional equivalent. Firstly, we will include the most significant 10 000 phraseological units from the Bank of English and the British National
Corpus, explaining, when necessary, with usage notes relevant cultural information. Secondly, we will look for the most relevant
Spanish phraseological units and we will provide their translation into English, including 25 000 examples of real usage from
the Corpus de Referencia del Español Actual.
Elaboración de un diccionario bilingüe de unidades fraseológicas inglés-español / español-inglés con ejemplos extraídos
de corpus
Resumen: El objetivo de este proyecto lexicográfico es compilar por orden semasiológico colocaciones, expresiones idiomáticas
y unidades fraseológicas en inglés, con sus equivalentes en español. Si no existe una unidad fraseológica equivalente, buscamos
un equivalente funcional. En primer lugar, incluiremos las 10 000 unidades fraseológicas más importantes del Bank of English
y el British National Corpus, explicándolas cuando sea necesario mediante notas de uso con la información cultural pertinente.
En segundo lugar buscaremos las unidades fraseológicas españolas más relacionadas y aportaremos su traducción al inglés,
junto con 25 000 ejemplos de uso real tomados del Corpus de Referencia del Español Actual.
Key words: collocation, idiom, corpus, English, Spanish. Palabras clave: colocación, expresión idiomática, corpus, inglés, español.
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1. Introduction
We claim that the issue of functional and pragmatic equivalence in standard bilingual English-Spanish / Spanish-English
dictionaries (Collins, Larousse, Longman, Oxford, Richmond)
has not been addressed properly. We also claim that bilingual
dictionaries of idioms (Carbonell 1995; Rodrigues and Bernet
Rodrigues 1990) present the following problems:
•
•
•
They sometimes leave out the most common lexical
collocations, which are important for mastering a
real communicative competence in a second language.
Examples are made up and do not show authentic
usage.
Aspects regarding pragmatics, register, social, and
geographical variation, etc., are usually neglected.
2. Current trends in phraseology
Research on foreign language acquisition and use shows
that different combinations of words and formulae are a must
(Corpas Pastor 1996:11).
A phraseological unit is a stable linguistic construction, of
two or more words, associated to a communicative context and
characterized by several factors such as repetition, fixedness,
idiomaticity and anomaly. Phraseological units can be classified into collocations, set phrases and idioms. Collocations are
free phrases restricted somehow by usage. They have transparent meanings and include technical terms (terminological word
groups such as blocked artery), onymic entities (i.e. phrases
which are proper names), etc. Set phrases are phraseological
units of the language system that constitute neither complete
utterances nor speech acts and that function, in general terms,
as clausal elements (spick and span). Idioms are fixed in speech
and belong to the socio-cultural heritage of a speaking community. They can be subdivided into two big groups, proverbs and
formulae. The former have textual autonomy and referential
meaning (God helps those who help themselves); the latter lack
textual autonomy and occur under certain circumstances and in
certain communicative situations (just like that). Although, as
Wotjak (1983:75) states, there are several cases of morpho-syntactic and semantic-communicative identity among languages
such as Spanish and German, this diverse variety of structures
is not always clearly presented in bilingual dictionaries which:
1. do not adopt clear selection criteria, avoiding difficult idioms on certain occasions (a poisoned gift);
2. do not include informal and colloquial phraseology:
in my heart of hearts, not to have a pot to piss in, to
kick up a fuss, hard on its heels, pasarlas canutas,
mandar a freír espárragos, andar con pies de plomo,
etc. (see appendix 1 with the entry all);
3. contain old-fashioned idioms: un dedo no hace ma­
* Dpto de Filología Moderna, Facultad de Letras, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real (España). Dirección para correspondencia:
[email protected]
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no ni una golondrina verano (Savaiano and Winget
2001:85);
4. do not include usage examples which clarify the
mean­ing, especially in terminological collocations
(i.e. collocations related to chiropody such as athlete’s foot or ojo de gallo);
5. show a lack of correspondence between the Eng­lish
and Spanish terms.
Phraseology has always posed problems for translation
as it reflects different linguistic and cultural values. It is a
wellknown fact that although finding a correct translation for
a phraseological unit is not always an easy task, (cf. Roberts
1998:76), we must not forget that most phraseological units
have a functional equivalence (phraseological or not) in other
languages. We differentiate four stages in the translation process of a phrase-ological unit at a microtextual level: (a) identifying the phra-seological unit, (b) interpreting it in its context, (c)
looking for a functional equivalent at a lexical level and (d) establishing correspondences at a textual level. These four stages
do not imply a linear or temporal succession as everything will
depend on the translator’s level of phraseological competence,
on the degree of equivalence (total, partial or zero) of the
phraseological pair and the complexity of lexical, semantic,
pragmatic, textual and discoursal relations in the context of the
Source Language (SL).
Equivalence relations among phraseological units in both
languages reflect a continuum from total identity to lack of
equivalence. There are several examples between the two poles
of partial equivalence reflecting lexical, figurative and connotative inconsistencies. Total equivalence occurs when a SL
phraseological unit corresponds with another one in the target
language denotatively and connotatively, sharing the same metaphorical base, and having the same distribution and frequency
of use. This type of equivalence is not usual and can be found in
Europeanisms (Todos los caminos llevan a Roma­ > All roads
lead to Rome), denominative phraseological units (hearing
impairment > deterioro de la capacidad auditiva) and terminological phraseology1. However, most phraseological units
have partial equivalents with a different metaphorical base
(silence is golden > en boca cerrada no entran moscas). The
most challenging problem for the translator is, of course, those
phraseological units with no equivalents in the target language
(can’t get your head round smt = can’t understand smt). In these
cases the translator has to evaluate the semantic, pragmatic, and
discourse values of the unit in the SL to transfer that meaning
into the TL through modulation: splitting headache > dolor
de cabeza insoportable whereby a concrete action, “to split”,
becomes an abstract adjective in Spanish, “insoportable”. Another translation procedure is calques, an almost literal rendering of English semantic or syntactic structures into Spanish,
which is the second procedure most frequently used by translators, take for example hearing window period > periodo ventana, referring to the state or period of an infectious agent, such
as a virus or bacterium, living or developing in a host without
producing clinical symptoms.
Lastly, Baker (1992:77) proposes omission as a translation
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procedure to eliminate those phraseological units which are not
necessary to understand the text, although she reminds us that
this omission entails the loss of some semantic aspects. A way
to balance this loss is introducing other phraseological units in
the text further on, a procedure known as compensation.
The reasons stated above prove that more complete phraseological dictionaries are required to give a more realistic
picture of language usage. In many occasions, translators and
advanced students have to improvise to translate the phraseological units2, as none of the translations offered in bilingual
dictionaries give adequate answers. More precisely, we aim to
produce a dictionary that meets the following criteria:
1. A dictionary with parallel correspondences that reproduce the idea, not the form.
2. Examples of real usage will be included of every
idiom, collocation, and proverb coming from the
British National Corpus (BNC) and Corpus de Referencia del Español Actual (CREA). When no relevant
examples are found, we will include examples taken
from the Internet.
3. We will offer more than one translation whenever
possible:
a. to rake sb over the coals > hacérselas pasar canutas / moradas / negras / a algn.
b. conjuntivitis del lúpulo > hop eye, hopper’s eye,
hop picker’s ophthalmia, hop-eye. This expression makes reference to the irritation of the eyes
of hop pickers from the spine like hairs of the
hop plant.
4. A balance is important between the two parts (English into Spanish / Spanish into English).
5. A CD will be developed which will allow a userfriendly access.
3. Objectives of this research project
We have looked for the most frequent collocations and
idioms in the BNC and the Bank of English (Sinclair 1996;
Hanks 2000), as these corpora reflect the frequency, fixedness
and the real functions of phraseological units. Our aim is to
demonstrate the impact which the appreciation of collocations
and idioms can have on translation.
As the traditional definition of idioms is too restricted and
difficult to put into practice, Cowie (1993:xii-xiii) identifies
four types of phraseological units which will be adopted in our
bilingual dictionary:
1. Pure idioms: ‘the end point of a process by which
word combinations first establish themselves through
constant re-use, then undergo figurative extension
and finally petrify or congeal.’ Examples: push up
daisies > criar malvas.
2. Figurative idioms: ‘this category is idiomatic in the
sense that variation is seldom found and pronoun
substitution unlikely’. Examples: burn one’s boats,
beat one’s breast.
3. Restricted collocations (semi-idiomatic): ‘one word
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has a figurative sense not found outside that limited
context; the other element appears in a familiar, literal sense. Examples: jog one’s memory > ejercitar
la memoria.
4. Open collocations: The elements can be freely combined. Examples: gas eye > queratoconjuntivitis por
el sulfuro de hidrógeno, which is an irritation of the
eye caused by exposure to hydrogen sulfide fumes.
Once the final corpus of phraseological units is compiled
in English, we have to translate them into Spanish bearing
in mind the selection of the translation equivalents, their currency and the examples of use. We include two entry examples,
authority and hand. At a structural level, idioms are marked
in navy blue at the end of the entries; the symbol ^ before the
phraseological unit indicates that appears more than 100 times
in the BNC. Two ^ (^^) indicate that the frequency of usage is
over 1000 times.
authority n.
1. [Control] [power] to assert, demonstrate, show;
assume, establish; delegate; exercise, exert, use,
wield, have; invoke authority. Afirmar, demostrar;
asumir, establecer; delegar; ejercer, usar, tener;
invocar la autoridad. It will also inform, educate,
surprise, inspire trust, and show authority.
2. To give up, relinquish, yield authority. Dejar,
ceder, entregar la autoridad.
3. To challenge, defy; deny, reject; rebel against;
undermine; usurp authority. Desafiar, desacatar,
desobedecer; negar; rechazar; rebelarse contra;
minar; usurpar la autoridad. Sheila, a year younger
still, was too self-centred and bright ever to challenge
authority on poor grounds.
4. Absolute, complete, full, supreme, unquestioned
authority. Autoridad absoluta, completa, plena, suprema, incuestionable, innegable. Under the Special
Powers the government has the full authority to act
and has failed to do so.
5. Parental authority. Autoridad de los padres, paterna. Accompanying the greater caring was an intensification of parental authority.
6. Control authority. Autoridad de control. The New
South Wales Casino Control Authority refused to
disclose the names.
7. An air of authority about her. Un aire de autoridad.
He wore horn-rim glasses and had an air of authority.
8. ^Under sb’s authority. Bajo la autoridad de. Federal government under antitrust authority.
9. To abuse, overstep one’s authority. Abusar de la
autoridad. I don’t want to lose my job, but it’s very
unfair that my boss should be able to abuse his authority and make my life so miserable.
10. Educational (BrE); legal; ministerial; presidential; reviewing (mil.); royal; state authority. Dis-
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trito escolar y autoridades del mismo; autoridad legal; ministerial; presidencial; que pasa revista; real;
estatal. The Jews already recognised the Romans as
the state authority.
11. Have power and authority. Tener el poder y la autoridad. They had power and authority!
12. [Expert] [source] to cite, invoke an authority. Citar,
invocar una autoridad.
13. An appropriate, competent, proper; reliable;
indisputable, irrefutable; ^^local, unimpeachable, unquestioned; leading, ^police authority;
respected authority; the greatest living authority.
Autoridad apropiada, competente; fidedigna; indisputable, irrefutable, indiscutible, principal; local,
incuestionable; principal, policial; autori-dad de
prestigio; la autoridad, el experto más importante
vivo sobre. The tone of the interviewer was respectful, as if Bala Usman were an unquestioned authority
on all matters concerning international relations.
14. ^^Health authorities; museum; a port, school
authorities. Autoridades sanitarias; la dirección
del museo; autoridades portuarias, escolares / la
dirección del puerto, del colegio. Brisbane North
Regional Health Authority director Dr Campbell.
15. To have smt on good authority. Saber algo de buena fuente. I have it on good authority that Fat Sam’s
pleasure is coarsing.
hand n.
1. To cup; fold one’s hand. a) Ahuecar las manos; b)
hacer bocina con las manos; cruzar las manos.
2. To clap one’s hands. Dar una palmada.
3. To lower // raise one’s hand. Bajar // levantar, alzar
la mano.
4. Bare; delicate; dishpan (esp. AmE) // gentle hands
manos desnudas; delicadas; de fregona // suaves.
5. A pair of hands. Un par de manos.
6. To do smt by hand. Hacer algo a mano. Made /
painted by hand. Hecho / pintado a mano.
7. To lead sb by the hand. Llevar a algn. de la mano.
8. To take sb by the hand. Coger / tomar a algn. de la
mano.
9. [Help] give me a hand with. Ayúdame con.
10. [Worker] a factory, mill (BrE); hired; ranch hand.
Un obrero; un temporero.
11. An old hand (at smt). Ser perro viejo en.
12. [Pointer on a clock] an hour; minute; second,
sweep-second hand. Manecilla de la hora; minutero; segundero.
13. [Control] to get out of hand. Descontrolarse, quedar
fuera de control.
14. To take sb in control. Controlar a algn.
15. [Pledge of betrothal] (formal) to ask for sb’s hand.
Pedir la mano de.
16. [Cards held by a player] (also fig.) to show, tip one’s
hand. Mostrar la mano, las cartas.
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17. To have, hold a hand. Tener una mano.
18. A good, strong // losing, weak; winning hand. Cartas buenas // malas; ganadoras.
19. [Possession] [ownership] to fall into sb’s hands.
Cambiar de dueño.
20. To change hands. Cambiar de dueño.
21. Enemy; private; safe hands. A manos del enemigo;
privadas; seguras.
22. [Viewpoint] on one hand (AmE), on the one hand…
on the other hand. Por una parte… por otra.
23. [Closeness] near at hand. A mano.
24. [Applause] to give sb a hand. Aplaudir.
25. To get, receive a hand. Recibir aplausos.
26. A big hand. (Gran) ovación.
27. Do you have a free hand? ¿Puedes ayudarnos
en…?
28. To have a free hand in this matter. Teníamos libertad plena para.
29. To be caught with your hand in the cookie jar
(AmE). Ser atrapado con las manos en la masa.
30. To be caught with your hands / fingers in the till
(BrE). Ser atrapado robando dinero en el trabajo,
actividad realizada durante cierto tiempo.
31. To be a dab // poor hand at / with smt. Ser bueno
al hacer o usar algo, tener buena mano para // tener
mala mano para.
32. To be in sb’s hands. Estar en manos de algn.
33. To bind / tie sb hand and foot. Atar a algn. de pies
y manos.
34. To bite the hand that feeds you. Morder la mano
que te alimenta, ser un desagradecido, cría cuervos...
35. Sb can do smt with one hand tied behind his / her
back. Hacer algo con los ojos cerrados, con gran
facilidad. See also “To do smt with one hand tied
behind your back”.
36. To come (readily) to hand (BrE). Algo que es fácil o
cercano de encontrar o alcanzar.
37. The dead hand on. Rémora, lastre.
38. To do smt with one hand tied behind your back
(see also “Sb can do smt with one hand tied behind
his / her back”). Intentar hacer algo pese a las dificultades que hacen difícil tener éxito en la empresa.
39. A firm; iron hand. Tener una mano de hierro con,
tener un control firme sobre algo / algn.
40. At first hand, first-hand (AmE). De primera mano,
directo, conocer de buena tinta.
41. At second hand. Conocer algo de forma indirecta,
por terceras personas.
42. To fall / get into the wrong hand. Caer en manos
equivocadas.
43. To force sb’s hand. a) No dejar otra salida, obli-gar
a actuar, b) apretar las tuercas a algn. It is possible
that Richard’s letter to York did mark the beginning
of a planned chain of events but that something then
forced his hand and he found himself having to deal
with Hastings before his plans had matured.
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44. To get one’s hands on sb. Va a ver cuando le agarre, le pille (col.).
45. To get one’s hand on smt. Andar detrás de algo.
46. To get out of hand. Ser difícil o imposible de controlar. But that kind of carefully calibrated escalation
could easily get out of hand.
47. To get / gain / have the upper hand. Imponerse,
dominar en una relación. With the arrival of Mrs
Thatcher in Downing Street, the new Toryism,
some-thing which was quite distinct from traditional
Conservative policy, gained the upper hand.
48. To give sb a big hand (oral). Vamos a dar un aplauso
a. So give him a big hand, please.
49. To give sb a free hand / sb has a free hand. Dar a
algn. carta blanca / tener carta blanca. The failure
of the pope to pronounce on this matter until 798
meant a dangerous delay for Coenwulf and was
probably a factor in his desire for an archbishopric at
London, but the papal judgement when it came gave
him a free hand and made London as an archiepiscopal see dispensable.
50. To give, lend sb a hand; not lift a hand to. Ayudar a
algn.; no mover un dedo para. She would never have
to lift a hand to do an ounce of work, not as much as
wash a cup.
51. To go hand in hand with. Ir de la mano de, estar
íntimamente relacionado con. See “To work hand in
hand with”.
52. To be hand in glove with. Ponerse de acuerdo,
conspirar con. The Mayor and his friends were them­
selves the criminals, hand in glove with the smugglers whose leader Jake was clearly an old ally.
53. The hand of God (BrE). a) Tener muy buena suerte
o triunfar con algo de trampa, especialmente en
el fútbol; b) (lit.) la mano de Dios. And Maradona,
whose ‘Hand of God’ goal helped knock England out
of the 1986 World Cup, could only stand and applaud
the young pretender.
54. To have sb eating out (the palm of) your hand.
Tener a algn. comiendo de la palma de tu / su...
mano. She had those eager guests eating out of the
palm of her hand in seconds.
55. To have a hand in (doing) smt; a guiding; helping
hand (to lend a helping hand). Ayudar, echar una
mano.
56. To have a hand in (doing) smt. Estar involucrado
en hacer algo.
57. To have / keep smt ready to hand (BrE) / have keep
smt on hand (AmE). Estar seguro de que algo está
cerca o que se puede usar.
58. To have the whip hand (over sb) (BrE). Controlar a
algn. por tener más poder que esa persona.
59. The heavy hand of. La mano dura. Nobody ever felt
the heavy hand of management versus employees.
60. To hold sb’s hand. Ayudar a algn. ante una situación desconocida o que da miedo.
61. To keep your hand in. No perder la práctica de,
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practicar una destreza para no perderla.
62. To lay a hand on sb. Poner la mano encima a algn.,
pegar.
63. To live from hand to mouth, hand-to-mouth. Vivir
al día. Mr Hurd recalled the last Lib-Lab pact in the
late 1970s as ‘a period of shabbiness and indecision’
and a time without social or economic achievement
in which the Labour government lived from hand to
mouth.
64. Not do a hand’s turn. No mover ni un dedo, no pegar ni golpe.
65. Sb needs a hand. See “To give / lend sb a hand“.
Ayudar a algn.
66. To be on hand. Estar a mano.
67. On the other hand. Por otra parte.
68. To reject / dismiss smt out of hand. Rechazar de
plano. But Rowland’s offer has been dismissed out of
hand by Brent Walker and unless the bond holders,
who owed £102m in all, agree to the restructuring
plan involving BW’s 47 bankers it would appear that
the directors will have no other alternative but to put
the company into receivership.
69. The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand
is doing (also the left hand doesn’t know what the
right hand is doing). a) Se emplea cuando no hay
suficiente comunicación en una organización y no
se trabaja conjuntamente; b) que no sepa la mano
derecha lo que hace la izquierda.
70. To show / tip your hand. a) Dejar ver mis / sus...
intenciones, mostrar sus cartas (fig.); b) en un juego
de cartas, mostrar las que uno tiene a los demás. At
last Macmillan showed his hand: it was essential to
get the aircraft companies to contribute to the cost of
Concorde’s research and development.
71. A steady / firm hand on the tiller (BrE). Llevar
con mano firme, sin sobresaltos, especialmente en
tiempos difíciles.
72. To take sb / smt in hand. Hacerse cargo u ocuparse
de algn.
73. To try one’s hand at smt. Intentar hacer algo.
This dictionary is aimed to enhance the communicative
competence of students of English and Spanish as a second
language as well as those who use English for academic and
professional purposes. In order to help students find out when
they can use certain idioms we add contextual clues to some
of the entries: “If a person is ‘un bicho raro’, that means that
he / she is an odd ball or a queer fish (coll.)”.
In some cases we also explain their origin: Zamora no se
ganó en una hora / No se ganó Zamora en una hora. (It refers
to Zamora’s siege by King Sancho II to seize this Spanish city
from his sister, doña Urraca.) This idiom, that relates the past
with a current situation, is used to tell someone to be patient
because what they want to happen will take a long time. The
equivalent English idiom is Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Register is also to be included. The Spanish idiom estirar
la pata means ‘to die’, but it is humorous and informal. Con-
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tent words may also vary in idioms: shake / shiver in one’s
shoes / boots (translated literally into Spanish as temblar en tus
zapatos / botas). In this example, there is a prototype in English
of a person who is afraid related to ‘shoes’ and ‘shaking’, which
is independent of the lexemes we use. This type of variation
is to be found in several idioms, which poses problems for
lexicographers. The problem gets worse as different users of
the language have different canonical forms in their heads and
they believe that theirs is the only correct version. A further
difficulty lies in variations that have have a high frequency
of use such as pasarlas moradas / canutas / putas (to have a
hard / tough time).
In this example, there is a prototype in English of a person
who is afraid related to ‘shoes’ and ‘shaking’, that it is independent.
4. Methodology
Units that appear at least twice in the BNC will be included
(Sinclair, 2000). This is a standard procedure for significant
linguistic results. Applying the principles that this author determined in 1987: open-choice principle and the idiom principle,
we will gather the English and Spanish phraseological units.
More specifically, we aim to include a significant number of
nominal and verbal collocations ‘weak heart > corazón débil’,
‘wait and see’ (base + collocative) with their corresponding
translations, not at random, as is frequently the case in general
bilingual dictionaries (Collins Cobuild English-Spanish / Spanish-English; The Oxford Spanish-English Dictionary, Diccionario Moderno Larousse Español-Inglés / Inglés-Español).
This dictionary will be semasiological, as alphabetical ordering is the most frequent and user-friendly method. Entries
will include sense indicators (see for example the first entry in
the word ‘authority’) and the translation followed by a corpus
example3.
5. Conclusion
Why write this dictionary? We have already stated some
reasons that lead us to think that it is necessary to offer more
translations of collocations and idioms, which would enhance
the pragmatic and communicative competence of students
and translators alike. Furthermore, these phraseological units
function in general as anaphoric elements referring back to
situations and comments said beforehand, giving not only
cohesion and coherence to the text, but also having structuring
and thematic functions.
Last but not least, phraseological units show the axiological component of social interaction, and are frequently used
to express negative evaluations (Wotjak 1989:479). This can
be explained in terms of the politeness principle, whereby the
effective cooperation of interlocutors is assumed and avoids
uttering negative opinions which might be considered rude or
inadequate if expressed directly.
Appendix: phraseological units of all
1. ^All along. Desde el primer momento. Yet Clark had
known all along of the military preparations.
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2. To be all about smt (AmE) (vulg.). Estar metido de
lleno, entregado, concentrado. As long as he had her,
he could work and make money and perform, which
is what he is all about.
3. To be all dressed up and / with nowhere to go (also
to be all dressed up with no place to go [AmE]).
Compuesto y sin novia (preparado para hacer algo
que desea hacer pero no puede hacerlo). [It’s] a case
of ‘all dressed up and nowhere to go’.
4. To be all for. Estar totalmente a favor de. He was all
for the idea, and we exchanged addresses.
5. To be all over smt (AmE) (vulg., oral). Estar contento, excitado o seguro de hacer algo. I was all over
that language test today.
6. To be all over sb. Besar y tocar a otra persona con
intenciones sexuales. Says a pal: ‘They were all over
each other like a pair of love-struck teenagers’.
7. All’s well that ends well. Bien está lo que bien
acaba. Well, maybe all’s well that ends well.
8. To do smt for all you are worth. Hacer algo con
todas tus fuerzas. So please go ahead and push Grapevine for all you are worth.
9. To feel all the better for. Sentirse mucho mejor por.
You’ll probably feel all the better for it.
10. In all honesty. Para ser sincero. I’m not concerned
about that, in all honesty.
11. All the more so. Tanto más cuanto que… I think
there is some truth in that, all the more so, I’m afraid,
at a time when Britain is borrowing more than £50
billion a year, and there’s a resistance to any reallocation of resources.
12. Sb is not all there (oral). Algn. no piensa con claridad or está loco; írsele a uno la olla, estar algo
chiflado (col.). He knew he was slow-witted; so many
things that were simple for other people quite defeated him, he had even heard himself referred to as ‘not
all there’.
13. It’s all gone pear-shaped (oral) (BrE). Ir / salir todo
al revés (de como se había planeado).
14. Sorry and all that. Lo siento y todo lo demás. Something like £800m. is currently owed to the contractors and Eurotunnel is very sorry and all that but it
doesn’t seem to have the cash.
15. Written all over one / one’s face. Notarse a la
legua / llevarlo escrito en la cara. Clutching a Union
Jack, three-year-old Louis hurtled into the arms of
his dad, judo silver medallist Ray Stevens, with joy
written all over his face.
16. ^All over the place. Por doquier. Commandos were
digging in all over the place.
17. To be all the go (ant.). Estar de moda. If something
or somebody seems to be all the go, it takes a determined editor to ignore it even if he thinks it wildly
over-rated.
18. To go all out. Hacer lo imposible por. Three, you
went all out to persuade me to call Sandy to break the
news about Ed’s murder.
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19. It ain’t all that (vulg.). No es para tanto. We ain’t all
that.
20. To be the be-all and end-all. Ser el único motivo o
la razón de ser, serlo todo. The be-all and end-all!
21. ^Once and for all. De una vez por todas. The horrors must be stopped everywhere once and for all.
22. That’s sb all over. Es muy típico de él / ella.
23. That’s all she wrote (AmE) (oral). No hay más que
hablar. That’s all she wrote. Forget about her let her
go.
24. To top it all (off) (also on top of it all). Y encima,
para colmo, como si esto fuera poco. On top of it
all, the remorseless heat was becoming too much for
Hugh, his sunburn itched and he felt sick.
25. When all is said and done. Al fin y al cabo. He was,
when all is said and done, Dudley’s man.
Notes
Look at the following collocations related to heart and their translations into Spanish:
a. [Organ that circulates the blood] to transplant a heart.
Hacer un transplante de corazón.
b. A bad, weak; good, healthy, strong heart. Corazón débil; en buen estado, sano, fuerte.
c. An artificial heart. Corazón artificial.
d. A heart beats; fails, stops; palpitates, throbs, pounds,
thumps; pumps blood. Un corazón late; deja de latir, se
para; palpita, late con fuerza; bombea sangre.
e. To have a heart attack. Tener, padecer un ataque cardíaco, un infarto de miocardio.
f. A fatal, massive; severe; sudden heart attack. Un
ataque cardíaco o un infarto de miocardio masivo; serio;
repentino.
2
The collocations nagging backache / ranking backache are not
translated into Spanish in none of the bilingual dictionaries we
looked up. They do not admit a literal translation either as the collocations persistent / chronic backache.
3
See the entry for gas. Sense indicators are indicated with brackets.
gas n.
a. Gas station. Estación de servicio, gasolinera. Atop the
gas station at Everett, Washington State.
b. [Accelerator] to step on the gas. Pisar el acelerador. In Day
Four of our series we’re offering 100 prizes of £50 to fill up your
car and step on the gas.
c. [Combustible gaseous mixture] to connect; light, turn
on the gas. Conectar, poner el gas. At the enquiry which
followed one manager said ‘I always light the oxygen first,
and when that is burning I turn on the gas’.
d. To cut off, disconnect; turn off the gas. Quitar, desenchufar el gas. Turn off the gas -good beer needs no blanket.
e. Coal; natural gas. Grisú; gas natural. He was also first in
his use of coal gas for train lighting in 1862.
f. [Substance dispersed through the air to disable the enemy]
mustard; nerve; poison, toxic; tear gas. Gas mostaza;
nervioso; venenoso, tóxico; lacrimógeno. Bombs and poison gas would rain down on undefended cities.
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g. Laughing gas. Gas de la risa, gas hilarante, óxido nitroso. Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas
and once used as a dental anaesthetic, is a natural product
of biological processes in soils and water.
h. Run out of gas. Perder fuelle. Nobody takes me seriously
and it’d be a disaster if I ran out of gas where I am now.
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